Ship Biographies
by queenpearl
Summary: A more detailed spin off of my "Short Stories" as well as my whole "Leviathan" series.
1. Canberra

Canberra was born in 1947. Despite her British service she wasn't born to the country. In fact, her mother was SS France (a daughter of Normandie and Leviathan) and her father is unknown though it is assumed he was a German stationed in France during the occupation. This assumption made the young shipling unpopular in France and her mother was forced to give her up once she was grown. Britain's P&O graciously took her into their fleet in 1959.

Canberra was a very personable ship and made friends quickly, particularly with Cunard's Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. She mourned beside them at the death of their young sister Mauretania 2 a year later. That same year, a ship who would have a big impact on her life was born. Queen Elizabeth 2. Canberra was taken with the sickly shipling from the start and often helped care for her when Queen Elizabeth was off on a voyage. She was the expected candidate to finish raising the child when her mother was pulled from service in 1969.

Declared infertile at a young age, Canberra never expected to have children of her own and yet she found one in QE2. The young Cunard liner, who was really just a teenager when she entered service that year, enjoyed Canberra's company and called her "Aunty Berry". The name she had given her when she was just a shipling. In the summer months the two were often apart, save for a few visits to Southampton as Canberra was off cruising in the Mediterranean and QE2 sailed the North Atlantic. But in the winter the pair were a common sight and rarely left one another's side as they sailed in company throughout the Caribbean.

In 1982 Canberra was the first large merchant ship to be called for service as a troop ship to help Britain in the Falklands campaign. Unlike QE2 who was restricted in where she could go, Canberra sailed repeatedly into the front lines. Meeting with her stepdaughter in South Georgia, she took on the troops QE2 carried before the larger liner returned to Britain her part in the war over. Canberra, who always had a strict discipline for calmness, let that desert her now as she cried as many tears as her daughter. Promising to return, she set out for the frontline. Canberra was a lucky ship, having several close calls in this war. In one of which she was anchored in a bay and witness the destruction of both Antelope and Ardent who were anchored next to her. The experience haunted her the rest of her life as she sometimes heard the destroyer's screams in her sleep. Several Argentinian pilots who were interviewed after the war said they had been given strict orders not to hit Canberra because they believed she was a hospital ship. Her white hull certainly helped to reinforce that believe and so Canberra survived the war intact.

Returning home to a rousing welcome a month after QE2 did, she was immediately put into drydock and underwent the conversion back to civilian service. She was given 50 days at anchor to recover alongside QE2 who now bore Cunard's trademark red funnel, a mark of high honor among ships. The gray coat was dropped swiftly after Canberra remarked that it made QE2 look a bit plump. She returned to civilian service in 1983.

Canberra received the greatest scare of her life when, in October 1984, a week before Halloween, QE2 suffered a heart attack mid-ocean. Adrift, without power, and unable to radio for help, QE2 set off her EPIRB which operated on a battery separate from her own grid. Canberra, though not the closest vessel at the time, swiftly overtook her fleetmate SS Oriana who was QE2's half sister (Her mother was also Queen Elizabeth though neither ship realized her heritage) and had also responded to QE2's distress call. Reaching her stepdaughter first, Canberra acted quickly and performed CPR despite never having training. (One of her passengers was a doctor who directed her through it) By the time the Navy came on the scene, QE2 was stabilizing. Canberra was credited for her actions and awarded a medal by the government. Cunard and P&O both later stated that her quick actions saved QE2's life. QE2 was taken back to her homeport of Southampton where she underwent emergency bypass surgery. It was touch and go for a week before QE2 began to come around. Canberra remained in Southampton for several months after that, not once leaving QE2's side as she recovered. Economics forced her to leave for several voyages before she returned to look after her stepdaughter as she underwent the conversion from steam to diesel. The conversion finally closed the hole in QE2's heart that had plagued her since berth but it did leave her in serious pain that has remained with her to this day.

Canberra herself never underwent this life extending conversion and as a result, got slower with age. Steam ships aren't meant to last longer than 20 years and Canberra was in service for twice that long. In 1992, she had the first of what would be a series of illnesses that would eventually kill her. A case of norovirus left her berth bound for 3 days during which time she was quarantined much to the chagrin of QE2. Canberra was just recovering from this when she got word of her stepdaughter's grounding off Martha's Vineyard. Rushing to Southampton from Liverpool she oversaw the repairs herself, a task that no other ship has ever been given before or sense. Her efforts sapped her strength and the following year she fell seriously ill, unable to leave her berth for several weeks. The illness seemed to have vanished as quickly as it came but it was to have lasting repercussions until the day she died. In 1996 she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and it is believed now that her illness in 1993 was caused by the early stages. Given 6 months to live, Canberra got her affairs in order quickly, handing command of the P&O fleet to the new Oriana, then just 6 months into her service. She gifted the Golden Cockrel, an equivalent to the Boston Cup in the Cunard fleet, to QE2 who returned it to the P&O fleet in 2008.

September 20, 1997. Canberra returned from the states on a transatlantic voyage, docking at her berth in Southampton. She died the following day. Her stepdaughter, QE2 was with her overnight.  
"She went peacefully in her sleep which is how we all deserve to go. She might've lived a few more years if she'd transferred to states but she'd made it abundantly clear to everybody that the only flag she ever wished to see flying from her masthead was the Union Jack. And I can respect that. Her love for this country knew no bounds. She had the courage of a battleship under fire and a heart as big as the sea that surrounds the isles. She loved everything and everyone but most importantly she loved life and what life could give her. The opportunity, she reveled in it. And that is how I choose to remember her. How I will always remember her, my Aunty Berry."~ From _An Eulogy for SS Canberra by RMS Queen Elizabeth 2_


	2. QE2 Part 1

Queen Elizabeth 2 was born in December 1960. Her mother, the first Queen Elizabeth had 2 shiplings before her. The first was sickly and died just a few days after he was born. The second, dubbed Q3, was deemed unfit for service by Cunard who wanted a cruise ship hybrid rather than a pure ocean liner. She was given to a rival line and raised in secret before becoming the Oriana of 1959, mother to the current Oriana of P&O Cruises. Q4 as QE2 was known for much of her early life was born 10 weeks early as she had been expected in February of the following year. Born weak and sickly, Cunard had little hope for the shipling and had originally planned to put her down. But at Queen Elizabeth's urging, they decided to give the runt a chance. Suffering from a hole in her heart (common in premature babies) and bleeding in the brain which can cause cerebral palsy, QE2 fought for life her first few weeks. Once she had gained enough strength to be taken off supplemental oxygen, she was given to her mother who was pulled off the transAtlantic route in order to better care for her sickly child. QE2 developed slowly. It wasn't that she had trouble understanding, in fact to this day her photographic memory remains the most impressive ever documented, but due to the health problems she had, particularly with her brain, she just couldn't apply them. Cunard began to lose hope in the fast growing liner but QE2 refused to throw in the towel.

Her saving grace came in 1965 when, just half a year after she started school, QE2 started receiving lessons from an unusual tutor. HMY Britannia rarely took on a protege and when she did it was typically an important military vessel such as the child of the flagship. But Britannia had unique methods that ended up being just what QE2 needed. She began teaching QE2 in secret, with no one but the high officials at Cunard and Queen Elizabeth knowing. Recognizing QE2's abilities to memorizing everything she saw and heard, Britannia began lessons where she would have the young ship recall what she knew. Within 6 months, QE2 was improving dramatically in her schooling. The recall helped fire the neural pathways in her brain that were meant for application. Where before she could only listen and recall things, now she could use that knowledge to apply it herself. 9 months after Britannia started her sessions, QE2 spoke her first word. Most ships learn to speak before they're a year old, QE2 took 6 times as long but the wait was worth it. It was 1966 and Queen Elizabeth was about to be taken out of service. According to her surviving sister, Queen Mary, she had said then "It was the best farewell present I could have ever received." QE2 was the last shipling ever produced by Queen Elizabeth and the last shipling produced by a Cunard Queen until Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria were born in 1990.

QE2 was pressed into service at a very young age, just 9 years old in 1969. She wasn't full grown yet, still just a teenager. But she had progressed enough that Cunard felt confident in their new flagship. Even so, her mother was weary. QE2's brain troubles had miraculously healed but the hole in her heart remained. Though not troublesome under normal circumstances it could become life threatening if she was pushed too hard. Thus, Queen Elizabeth successfully lobbied Cunard to allow rival P&O's Canberra to act as a nanny to the young ship. It was an agreement that QE2 disliked at first but she came to like and according to some accounts, adore Canberra going so far as to call her "Aunty Berry".

QE2 continued to defy the odds, surviving her first 10 years of service without a scratch despite some protractors convinced of her going to the scrapyard before that point. But her greatest test was yet to come...


	3. QE2 Part 2

May 1982. Britain was at war with Argentina. Had the Falklands conflict occurred a decade earlier, British morale was the point where the country might have given up the islands without a fight. But the British people had had enough of self deprecation and believed that Britain still had a place in the world as a second rate power. In order to fight and win this war however, Britain needed a way to get troops deployed to the field fast. As they had in the past, the country turned to her merchant fleet for the job.

Canberra and QE2 were the largest civilian ships called up for duties by the Admiralty. Canberra, who everyone had expected to be called up anyways, was requisitioned first. QE2, who was a more unlikely candidate, nearly wasn't called up at all. Several in government, including Prime Minister Margret Thatcher, were made aware by Cunard of QE2's health issues. Over her 20 years of service, Cunard had learned how to best work with QE2's problems but the government didn't have the same knowledge. Plus, recent studies had shown that merchant ships face up to 3 times the stresses in wartime service as they do in regular civilian transport. This is okay and actually somewhat healthy for ships who needed decent stress such as Aquitania and Queen Mary but for a fragile ship like QE2, who was estimated to lose a pint a day in blood due to the hole in one of her heart valves, the undue stress could be fatal! Initially, the government agreed with Cunard and chose not to requisition the big liner even though they were desperate for such a ship. Instead, it took an impassioned plea on the part of QE2 herself to change their minds.

QE2, understanding, but furious with Cunard's cautiousness, wrote a passionate letter to the Admiralty that ended with the words "I know the risks better than anyone. I understand and accept the risks. And I will serve despite them." Impressed and moved by her words, the Admiralty struck a deal with Cunard. QE2 would serve in the Falklands campaign, but merely as a transport. She would carry troops to South Georgia where the smaller Canberra would then embark them to a specific location on the front line. But there were also practical reasons for this compromise as well. QE2 was simply too big to sail into one of the Falklands many fjords and bays to let off troops and she lacked the maneuverability to leave the confined waters in a hurry should things turn sour.

Despite this handicap, QE2 diligently performed her duties which started the minute she went into drydock to be converted to a troop carrier. The conversion took 3 days in which a number of modifications were made including the addition of a helicopter deck, reinforced holds capable of carrying military landing craft, and the additional of fuel pipes to allow at sea refueling. Typically, most ships would be given a rest period following a conversion, particularly an invasive one such as this. (The navy cut into her stern to modify her enough to carry the helicopter deck). Instead, when told she would need to wait, QE2 simply said "Will the mods work?" Upon receiving an affirmative she replied "Then there's nothing else to it. Flood the dock and I'll be on my merry way."

Carrying the proud name of her mother before her, the HMT Queen Elizabeth 2 set out from Southampton for the South Atlantic, waters that she was unfamiliar with. A flotilla of tugs surrounded her but what few actually know is that these tugs were not there as an honor guard, but to do their actual jobs. QE2 had suffered from a host of health problems all her life and boiler troubles was one of them. Also, it was likely the recent conversion had a role in her issues this day as well. With one of her boilers leaking water and the other down for maintenance, she could only manage 7 knots, a speed at which she had difficulty maneuvering thus the presence of the tugs. Once out of sight of shore however, she dropped anchor and allowed her crew to fix the leaky boiler which brought her up to cruising speed for her trip south.

Reaching South Georgia, QE2 delivered her troops to Canberra. This meeting is one of the many tales told by eyewitnesses that give credence to the fact that QE2 felt some sort of familial love for her P&O rival. It is mentioned by several ships who were nearby, including the unlucky HMS Coventry, that QE2 begged Canberra not to go anywhere near the front line and that she called the P&O flagship "Aunty Berry" several times. Canberra likewise called QE2 "Lizzie", "Little Liz", and "My Little One" indicating that the bond forged when QE2 was placed in her care as a teenager still remained strong after 20 years.

QE2 set sail for home after that but her job wasn't quite finished yet. After HMS Ardent and HMS Antelope were sunk, she was called back to take on their survivors who were reluctant to enter her superstructure due to its aluminum makeup. (Both destroyers had aluminum superstructures that collapsed and melted easily preventing men from escaping.) QE2 returned home to Britain to great acclaim, greeted by HMY Britannia who could see what her former protege was trying to hide. QE2 was exhausted. Though not a frontline ship, she pushed herself to the edge for the sake of getting her troops to the scene that much faster. For 3 days after she returned to her berth in Britain, she lay on her side unable to rise. Ships have to find their keel or they'll die eventually. Britannia spent that time feeding QE2 protein bars and other small items that could be downed in a single bite as the liner lacked the strength to even chew, when QE2 was awake which wasn't often. But after 3 days she did find it within her to right herself and eat a full and well balanced meal. After that, her strength returned quickly and she underwent the conversion process once again with the mods being taken out. This time given adequate time to recover and placed in her berth under Canberra's supervision, QE2 rested up for her much anticipated first transAtlantic voyage following the war.

She served the remainder of the year without trouble but in 1983 she began to suffer new problems with her engines. She had pushed them hard in the Falklands campaign and now the old steam turbines were declaring that they had had enough! In 1984, QE2 had a health scare, suffering a heart attack mid-ocean. Out of it for nearly a day with no power for her passengers, QE2 drifted until Canberra was able to help her back into port. QE2 was put into drydock after that for a $40 million overhaul. Steam would be replaced with diesel.

Now diesel is mildly poisonous to ships. Those who try it for the first time will get sick sort of like how a first time smoker gets a dose of nicotine. Unlike nicotine however, diesel is not addictive and most ships can evolve a tolerance for the fuel fairly quickly. QE2, usually more of a latecomer, was right on target this time and was sailing on her first voyage as a diesel-electric powered ship within 2 months of being converted. The new power plant was far more efficient than her old steam turbines and she could go faster than she could before. QE2 reveled in her newfound speed and took great joy out of scaring the wits out of her captain when she would suddenly open up the throttles, presenting a rooster tail more akin to a powerboat than an ocean liner. But the newfound lease on life was not to last.

On August 7, 1992 QE2 suffered the worst damage of her career when she ran aground off Martha's Vineyard, a small island off the coast of Massachusetts. Caused by a combination of a phenomenon known as squat and inaccurate Navy charts, she hit what now is known as Red Rocks, a pair of outcroppings off the Vineyard. She damaged 300 feet of her keel in a manner similar to Titanic 80 years earlier. She hit the rocks with such force that oil from her tanks was forced up through her funnel, splattering the decks in a sticky black downpour. QE2 spent the next few hours throwing up what remained in her tanks. At this time QE2 was carrying for her aunt Queen Mary's, two shiplings, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria then just 16 months old. She gave them to an American destroyer who came to her aid telling her to raise them for her. The destroyer had replied "You'll raise them yourself Liz, for you'll be just fine." In those days, QE2 was a ship running for her life and she firmly believed that the grounding spelled the end of her career and gave her a one way ticket to the scrapyard.

But once again she beat the odds, limping back to England as a cargo ship as she was unable to get certification to carry passengers with her temporary patches. She spent the next half year in drydock undergoing repairs before she was deemed ready to sail again. At this time, Canberra was beginning to suffer her own health problems brought about by her age. She was 10 years QE2's senior and had a harder going of it than her Cunard counterpart particularly in the Falklands. This hard way of life was beginning to catch up with her and by 1994 she was struggling to make a profit for her line. Then in December 1996 great personal tragedy struck QE2 when Canberra, stricken by cancer and having vowed never to sail under any flag but the Union Jack, died at her berth in Southampton. QE2 is said to not have left her berth for days afterwards and when she was finally forced to leave in order to make a sailing to New York, she did so in a very somber manner. She did not smile again until her surrogate daughter Queen Mary 2 entered service in 2004, 8 years later!

QE2's days were numbered once the two children she raised entered service. Queen Mary 2, with the pedigree of a flagship, was destined to take the reins once she came of age. QE2 was regent flagship at this point, having no claim to the title despite her own impressive pedigree. Queen Mary, as the older sister, was the rightful flagship as were her descendants. QE2 passed the baton on shortly after Queen Mary 2's, maiden transatlantic voyage. Queen Victoria, though the same age as Queen Mary 2, was the runt of the litter, a position that QE2 herself was very familiar with having survived the odds of such herself 40 years before. Her experience allowed her to give Victoria expert care allowing Queen Mary 2's younger sister to enter service just 4 years behind her. This proved to be a much welcome experience for QE2 who got to witness both her surrogate daughters beginning their lives as Cunard liners and cruise ships. Their first and only Royal Rendezvous in New York was one for the ages with none of the three ships sparing a tear. The goodbye in Southampton between Queen Mary 2 and QE2 was even more emotional. But what no one but the Chairman of Cunard and Mickey Erickson, the owner, knew, was that there was a very good reason that their star flagship was being retired.

QE2 had been declared off limits to breed early on in her career. Though her fertility was off the scale, Cunard bypass a great opportunity for prudence, determining that due to her ongoing health issues (that continued right up until her retirement) she would never breed. What is known however was that in her later years, her defiant streak still ran strong despite her age. Defying Cunard's strict orders of discipline, she gave into instinct and cavorted with a young male, the eldest son of Oriana 2. (who was technically her second cousin but like with Thoroughbreds, what human's think of incest was quiet common the only rule being the inbreeding needed to be a generation apart) This, ironically, was the same ship who would get Queen Victoria pregnant in an act of rape in 2011. QE2 was over 35 years old by this point, far too advanced in age to have a shipling. When she was just 15 doctors had determined she was too fragile a ship to ever undergo a pregnancy. Cunard might be able to pull her from service for the duration but again they deemed the risk too great and demanded prudence instead. Now approaching 40 this option no longer applied. QE2 might've beaten the odds once again as she had shown throughout her long working life but once doctors had determined that a pregnancy with a ship of this advanced age would result in a death should QE2 return to service afterwards, that was the end of it. Cunard once again took prudence and sold her to Dubai not for the hotel market but for a maternity record. Dubai at that time led the world in the ship breeding business not only producing excellent ships through good bloodlines but also doing so in a safe and productive manner that outclassed any other nation including the United States. QE2 could never return to active passenger service but she could serve quite well as a broodmare.

As it turned out, the stress of the pregnancy alone nearly killed her and when MS Queen Elizabeth was born, Cunard acted swiftly and decisively. QE2 was in no condition to care for a shipling following an extremely difficult labor and so the newborn was gifted to SS United States as a nurse mother. In a way, it was recompose. Big U's mother Normandie perished in a fire when she was just 6 weeks old. Her maternal grandmother Bluenose cared and raised her until she died in 1946. Still just a toddler, the 3 year old Big U was found and brought in by Mauretania 2 and assisted raised by the two Queens until she was 8. As her mother was as United States Ship, the United States had a claim on Big U and once she was old enough, directed Cunard to give her to her rightful owners. With great reluctance and with intense protest on the part of the Queens, it was done. The United States Lines quickly laid down the law on the young ship and when Big U next met her former surrogate family it was like she did not know them. She had forgotten who they were. This was so until Mauretania 2 died in a tragic accident in 1960, the year QE2 was born ironically, and thus was revealed in a heartfelt moment. Cunard, who had the option of buying Big U in the 40s but refused, now felt obligated to the past and QE3 as she's called, was their way of apologizing. It was a choice that all the Cunard Queens, both present and retired (QE2, Queen Mary) approved of. "She'll make a fine mother." said Queen Mary I.

Today, QE2 lives on in Dubai with her future in doubt. She may return to Britain, she may remain in the desert, she may even make her way to the breakers. But she has beaten the odds time and again. There is no doubts she will do so now. She is once again currently pregnant with another ship. Choosing to keep the gender a secret it is known that this new ship is a Vista-class like Queen Victoria and the new QE3 and will join Cunard's fleet in 2021. The rumor has it, that if the shipling is born a girl, QE2 will honor tradition and name her after her greatest aunt and the longest serving Cunard liner before her, Aquitania.


	4. Tragic Sisters: Concordia and Seneca

_WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT (slight mention of sexual activities but there's strong mentions of excess alcohol and drug use that give cause to the warning if the adult filter isn't enough for y'all!)_

Costa Concordia was a classic cruise ship. Hard drinking, hard partying and always looking for a "good time". Born in 1998, Concordia and her twin sister Seneca were the last daughters of Costa Rivera who was sold four years later. The early loss of their mother to a rival cruise line had a profound impact on the young ships. Desiring attention and affection both sisters turned to less civil ways to get it. Being as close as sisters could be the two took part in various explicit activities from a very young age. Still just teenagers they partook in quite a fair number of large scale parties, usually by slipping past the patrol guard or producing fake IDs as they were underage. They were the life of the party and saw the inside of quite a few drunk tanks. They scaled down their partying after they entered service with Costa but still remained the line's biggest partiers.

Concordia was the worst of the two. There was never a day in her entire service that she wasn't intoxicated on some level. On day cruises she'd be drunk and at best slightly hungover, easing that pain by drinking more. At night she'd be just as rowdy as her passengers, enjoying the same level of drink service as they did. And the drunkeness only got worse as she got older. Random breathalyzer tests taken showed a BAC of 0.09 in 2006, 1.01 in 2008 and on the night of her loss, a shocking BAC of 1.5%. Not the highest recorded. Concordia broke all records with a BAC of 3.2% during Christmas celebrations in 2009. She was fined repeatedly for her first two years of service as she was still underage but once she turned 10 (the equivalent of 21 for ships) the fines were reduced and Concordia was practically free to party at will.

Seneca was only slightly better than her sister. Her BAC was never as high but she still topped out at a 3% in 2012, a week before her sister's tragic sailing. Seneca rarely was seen alone as she was almost always with her sister. The two were drinking buddies, best friends, shopping partners, sex partners (usually in a threesome or foursome or more if there were enough males about) and the biggest pair of certified troublemakers wherever they went! Port authorities learned to keep the two under extra watch whenever they were together, knowing that it wasn't a matter of if they would be tossed in the drunk tank together, but when! And drinking wasn't the only issue.

Several cruise ships who used to be heavy partiers themselves and have sense turned their ways around recall their younger days. "People say cruise ships are the place to party. We _were_ the party!" Says Carnival Fantasy, the oldest ship and flagship of the entire Carnival fleet which includes Costa Cruises, the line that owned Concordia. "There was always drinks involved. Usually cheep drinks but for certain occasions like Christmas or New Years the expensive stuff would come out and we'd switch from cheep vodka to top of the line scotch and we'd be knocking back several hundred dollar bottles basically within the hour. It was, it was hard drinking to be sure. I'm amazed our filters could cope with it all!" Fantasy went on to explain that smoking was also common amongst the ships although Concordia wasn't as big on that. "Oh she'd have a nice cigar if it fancied her but compared to other ships at those parties she wasn't crazy for the nicotine. It was the booze that got her going, it was always the booze." Just the booze, or something more?

Costa Pacifica, a younger sister-ship in the same class as Concordia and Seneca has stated that behind the alcohol and the smoke there were far more illicit activities being undertaken. "We did, a lot of drugs. That's just a fact, there was cocaine involved. I know personally of some ships that enjoyed a strong dose of marijuana before taking the harder stuff. Meth, particularly crystal meth was a common treat especially at big parties where we'd all want to get it on fast. We'd go through, you know, six figures worth of that stuff in one night. Just smoke it up, inject it, eat it whatever. However it went down, it went down. I know because I was one of those ships. I'm guilty of it." She added with a chuckle. Of her older sisters, Seneca did admit to heavy drug use as well. Concordia wasn't ever seen doing drugs but other ships have stated that they were turned into or given drugs by her and it's very likely she was part of the illegal trade like the rest of the fleet.

Any cruise ship party is bound to be rowdy and the more ships involved, the more likely it is to get out of control. Brawls were common with ships practically tearing each other apart in drunken, drug filled rages. As for the sisters' behavior at those parties, Carnival Fantasy had this to say. "Neither would be what I'd consider mean drunks. Usually that was the males. But they didn't exactly run off to the corner either when things got out of hand. They were right in the middle of it. I think they enjoyed the attention. They certainly thrived on it."

Despite their frequent partying and almost constant intoxication, it never seemed to affect their work. Former crew and passengers of Concordia recalled that "the only sign that she was drunk was the smell of alcohol on her. That was it. She never looked drunk. She never acted drunk. Her behavior was that of what I'd expect to see in any sober ship." said one. Another recalled that "she was always so kind. She looked on us like a mother would a child. She was particularly fond of the elderly. She had a gift with them. She could make even the most crotchety old man smile." But none of this could save Concordia on the night of January 13, 2012.

Deviating from her course was nothing new. Concordia loved to sail by Giglio at night. Her high levels of intoxication likely played a roll in the accident as it was clear she didn't notice or realize how close to the shore she had gotten. Her reflexes impaired she was too late in taking corrective action and struck the reef on her port side, tearing a chunk out of her hull. The impact severed several temperature controlling veins behind the hull and punctured an artery. The injury itself was fatal as blood poured from the wound. Concordia likely or at the very least seemed to know the extent of her condition as she made an immediate course change to put herself as close to the shore as possible. "She very deliberately grounded herself. And that maneuver, if nothing else, saved hundreds of her passengers lives." said USCGC Iceberg Warrior, a former ocean liner and expert maritime consultant. "If she had sank in open water... I don't even want to contemplate the tragedy that would've unfolded. A worse tragedy, this is already a tragedy but it easily could've been a lot worse. If she hadn't, done what she had in those first few minutes."

Concordia, well aware of her type's top heaviness, knew she would likely capsize. Her quick actions suggest she had a clear head, perhaps for the first time since she was a shipling and she proved her worth as such in remarkable fashion. Launching all but three of her boats, Concordia rolled on her starboard side an hour after the collision with the reef. The shallow waters she had grounded herself in prevented her from sinking outright and she lay wedged against the rock. It would be another year before her body would be salvaged. Concordia herself however would be dead by sunrise. The following is a first hand account by Warrior who at the time was serving under lease with Cunard and happened to be in the area to witness the disaster.

23:40 Concordia lays on her starboard side against the rocks. I can see the damage on her port side quite clearly. A terrible gash that's gushing blood. A large bolder lodged in the end of it prevents worse bleeding and is likely the only reason she is still alive. Even so, no ship can remain on their side for long. Their own weight will crush them. I fear a lingering death for her and can only hope she dies quickly and as painlessly as possible.

00:10 I gave Concordia a dose of morphine, 60 mg. Not a huge amount for a ship this size but it was her desire to remain as alert as possible so I made sure to give her the best chance of that. She still has passengers on her, swarming over her exposed port side. Rescuers are attempting to throw ropes to them to form some kind of repel line. At this point I can only wonder at how successful their efforts might be. I hope they're not in vain.

03:44 I gave Concordia a second dose of painkillers, 100 mg this time. She is, feeling her wound now to say the least. I have no doubts the damage has caused massive internal bleedings that are spreading throughout her ravaged body. She's so young. To see a ship so young like this, it sends chills through my keel. The young should never have to perish in such a way. Still, she retains a strong, fighting spirit. And has a rather amusing sense of humor. It is good to see her keep her morale high. It makes it easier in some ways, to know that she will die with her bow up.

04:30 Concordia has started coughing up blood. Her chest cavity is filling with blood as her lungs are slowly being crushed from her own weight. I carry a .50 caliber rifle as well as a lethal dose of anesthetic onboard and I offered her both saying she didn't have to suffer like this. Her response was just two words but her meaning was clear "I must." She is convinced she must suffer. That this tragedy was her punishment for her previous lifetime worth of sins and that she must ride it out alone. I wish she would reconsider but I must respect her choice. She's so brave though. I cannot help but admire that.

05:00 Concordia repeatedly asks of the whereabouts of her passengers. Such a noble ship, seeking merely the safety of her people. But I fear she is becoming delusional. She asks again and again as though she has not heard my answers. "My people where are they? My passengers are they safe? Are my people on land? Are they okay?" Each time I answer "They are safe. They are on land. They are safe. They are being looked after, don't worry yourself." And each time she gives a slight nod so I know she's heard me. Doesn't stop her from repeating her questions though, over and over again. The last of her passengers left just 15 minutes before so I think that might be why she's asked. She knew people were still aboard. And I think she knows there were casualties but then again, how could their not be. It is a miracle there weren't more lost. I don't have a final toll yet but I do know at least 30 are still missing. That is a hard blow for any ship to take and I could see her eyes dim when I told her. And as much as it pains me to see that, she has a right to know. They are her people after all. The living and the dead.

05:30 Concordia's erratic speech behaviors have given way to frequent bouts of bloody coughing. More blood flows from her nose in a constant stream. She can hardly breathe now, never mind speak. But when I ask, again, for her to consider taking the euthanasia, she finds the breath to categorically and totally refuse my offer. And once again, I will respect her decision. This is hard to watch, seeing a young ship die like this. But she has been so brave. So noble. So helpful in saving her passengers that she deserves my company. I will remain at her side until she dies. It is the least I can do. A silent salute to one so courageous.

05:55 Concordia seems to have fallen unconscious. Her time is close now. She has lingered for far longer than anyone expected. 8 hours on her side for a ship of her size, must be a record. One I hope she is proud of.

05:57 Concordia's respiratory functions have ceased. She has stopped breathing completely. I have called for the coroner but I fear I already know his answer...

06:00 The coroner has announced the time of death. Costa Concordia has died due to complications from her injuries sustained at 23:41 yesterday evening. Her courage cannot ever be overstated. She may not have been the best ship in life but she was the greatest in death. I give her the best tradition has to offer with a 7 blast salute from my horn. I pray her spirit hears this and finds peace in knowing she died a hero.

The loss of Concordia profoundly affected all cruise ships lives. Following the disaster there was a significant drop in drinking related activities with the ships of Carnival Corporation and it started with Seneca. "Starting literally the day after the disaster, I couldn't sip a drink, touch a cigarette or even look at a male without feeling sick to my stomach." She said later. "It just, really made me think about where my own life was heading. It just as easily could've been me that night instead of her. And that's when I decided I could be better than that. I didn't have to drown myself in booze or get roaring high on drugs to get what I wanted out of life." Seneca embarked on a vigorous attempt to turn her life around. She sought help for her partying problems with nearly immediate affects. She hasn't had one drink since although the smoking was harder to quit. "I'm still addicted to nicotine." She said. "But each time I think about having a cigarette I just put on a nicotine patch and read the Good Book. After a chapter or two I've completely forgotten the need for one of those foul smoky things!" Seneca has gone far beyond just cleaning up her own act. A year after her sister's loss, Seneca founded the Carnival Organization for National Cruise Operations with Ir-Responsible Drug and Illicit Alcohol activities or as its more commonly known by its well chosen acronym CONCORDIA. "I feel like I'm doing this for her." Seneca explained when she founded the organization back in 2013. "For the both of us. We always did everything together. If we could get drunk and high together we sure as hell can get sober together." Seneca has been crucial to assisting humans in alcohol and drug recovery as well. And even gone as far as introducing regulations that, if put into affect, will restrict the number of drinks a passenger can have on a single cruise. As it stands, her actions have already seen several cruise lines put into affect strict smoking and drinking policies into several of their ships.

Seneca's organization has saved many lives both human and otherwise with its recovery team. "She (Seneca) turned my life around. She literally _saved_ my life." said Carnival Fantasy, who still struggles with an addiction to cocaine. "I have two fine children now who are growing up under my care. I never would've even witnessed that if I was still taking that stuff! I'd probably be in some backwater port somewhere if not dead outright by now. A thank you is hardly fair compensation for what Seneca has done for me and for other ships." For Seneca, just knowing she's made a difference is all the compensation she needs. "It's like I've redeemed myself. Redeemed my sister. She's still with me and seeing what we've been able to achieve together, it's-it's everything I can hope for." She says with tears in her eyes.

But the memory of that day, of Concordia's untimely demise, still haunts Seneca. "I can't go near males." She says. "I can only go into female only ports. I even see a male near me I start to panic. I'll freeze up, I'll hyperventilate. It's something I just can't control. It reminds me too much of the things we used to do together and I'm not ready to go back there. I don't think I ever will be."


	5. Oriana (1995)

Oriana was born in 1982, the last shipling born to the first Oriana. From the beginning she was chosen to be her mother's successor. And she had the pedigree for it. SS Oriana was the eldest surviving child of RMS Queen Elizabeth and a half sister to QE2, linking the P&O fleet to Cunard. Oriana never had the chance to really know her mother well as the first Oriana was sold out of line when she was just 3 years old. Fleet flagship Canberra became nurse mother as she had done with Cunard's QE2 20 years earlier. QE2 herself was often seen with the young Oriana as the aging Canberra couldn't keep pace with the rambunctious shipling. Between the two of them, they managed to instill a sense of elegance and etiquette into P&O's future flagship. To this day Oriana can come across as a little 'stuffy' to the younger ships, her manners and attitude meant for a different era.

Being raised by a Cunard ship meant that the two fleets would become closer once Oriana took the reins in 1995. She was young for a flagship, just a few months into her service. But she had the support of her stepmother QE2. Between the two of them, they managed to pull P&O through the worst of the hardships that hit the cruise industry at that time. When QE2 handed Cunard over to Carnival, Oriana sensed an opportunity she could not ignore and followed suit. Around this same time, QE2 had her own shipling to raise. Queen Mary 2 was every bit her mother's child, carrying the pedigree of royalty. Oriana, like Canberra before her, was smitten with the little one. Mary didn't take to Oriana the same way as she took to QE2 but the loyalty and friendship these two formed 20 years ago is still going strong.

Oriana is a very prideful ship. Proud of her heritage, proud of her fleet, proud of her flag. And sometimes she lets that pride interfere with common sense such as the time she failed a SOLAS inspection. Mostly, her stuffiness just hides a big kind heart. But being brought up by a pair of ocean liners has its effects and being refined is one of them. A 'stuck up snob' as Big U would say. Oriana's leadership style is very similar to QE2s and makes more than one ship wonder just how close the two really were. Oriana's inner mischievous schoolgirl comes into play here as she allows and sometimes encourages the rumors to abound. Especially if they involve romance.

What's not in question is her professionalism. Although she has few personal friends, Oriana's professional contacts range far and wide. If ever a ship is in need of a contact somewhere they always see Oriana first. Chances are, she knows of it. One of the few ships she is close friends with is, unsurprisingly, Queen Mary 2. The ocean liner that stole her heart as a shipling remains well within her guarded walls. When she received word of her mother's death in 2004, Mary visited her shortly after she received the news. At her request. "That was the only time I'd ever seen Oriana cry." She later said. "I think she just wanted a shoulder to cry on for once and I'm honored that she thinks highly enough of me to ask me to be that ship." Known for her typical British stoicism, Oriana's shell was a tough one to crack. But Mary is one of the few ships who as seen the true Oriana that lies beneath. A rare privilege. One that Cunard's flagship never takes for granted.

In 2010, Mary merged the Cunard and P&O fleets. On paper, they were separate lines. But for the ships, they had become one line with two flagships. Although Oriana is the senior of the two, she often defers to Mary for the decisions. Many suspect that after years of leading on her own, the shy kind-hearted ship just wants to take a step back and let someone else command for a change. Mary and Oriana's relationship is the near constant subject of the tabloids. Whenever the two are seen together, articles abound with Queen Victoria being one of the more avid enthusiasts much to Mary's chagrin. But no matter how explicit the claims get, neither Mary nor Oriana ever try to denounce them. One of the most common arguments people make towards a bonded relationship began in 2010. Oriana was stricken with norovirus, a nasty flu like illness that is the bane of all cruise vessels. When a ship becomes ill they are usually quarantined with no one but the healer allowed access. In Oriana's case, Mary became the sole exception to this rule as she came and went several times without being stopped. This continued each time Oriana fell ill in the following 4 years. And each time Mary was there, defying the healer's rules. The only time those rules can ever be waived is if the visiting ship is bonded to the patient. For many, this is the smoking gun, the proof of the flagship's true relationship. But as Oriana likes to say 'I can neither confirm or deny'. Why she stays so secretive is unknown, perhaps a product of her refined upbringing. Whatever the reason, her public denial remains a source of great amusement in both fleets. Unless she ever comes forward, we'll never know for sure. But the tabloids always make for great reading.


	6. The German U-Boat

The U-boat is remembered for its ruthlessness and its reign of terror and both were certainly true. The U-boat's story begins in 1905 when Kaiser Wilhelm II, having been to the Royal Naval Review, desired a fleet to match his grandmother, Queen Victoria's. Germany had a handful of small submarines within its force given to them as leftovers from Britain's breeding program. These boats would go on to be the parents and grandparents of the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen!

U-boats, the name comes from the German word Underseeboat, and is pronounced exactly as its spelled. The early U-boats of the 1910s and pre World War One era were highly aggressive and nearly uncontrollable. Put into service as young as 12 months and no older than 18 months, they were highly effective against British shipping. But their young age combined with the early days of submarine domestication meant that these submarines were more likely to bite the hand that fed them than actually fighting the Allies. Towards the end of the war, Germany was putting its submarines into service later in their lives which did so some improvement. A lesson that the country would remember 20 years later. Following WW1, the submarines remaining in Germany's service were either given as war reparations to the Allies or scrapped. But some were hidden away and survived. This action of hiding away a handful of bull submarines and their broodmares would have significant consequences in the years to come.

By saving some of their submarines, Germany ensured that she would always have those submarines' loyalty. The submarine is a very smart creature, well aware of the world around it and its own status in it. It is also aware of how to manipulate in order to position itself favorably. In this case, the submarine had put its trust and faith in the German government and that government did not let them down. It was something the submarines never forgot. In Bremerhaven and Hamburg, the few submarines that survived were bred and their children raised and taught to respect Germany. To protect Germany as Germany had protected them, had saved them. And that is was there job to return the favor. Loyalty in a submarine is not easy to come by, but it has been shown to play a large part in a submarine's effectiveness. USS Tang was raised by her skipper, O'Kane's, mother and this ensured she felt a sense of familial loyalty to O'Kane. Wahoo likewise was doted upon by Morton before her commissioning. Later on, during the Cold War, submarines such as USS Lapon and the infamous HMS Conqueror were raised by or assisted raised by their skippers and their families resulting in a strong bond between skipper and ship that increased a submarines' motivation to fight.

In the interwar period, Germany experienced this in an unusual way. Typically, submarines put their loyalty in a specific person or family but the U-boats gave their loyalty to the country as a whole. Why this became a unique case, no one really knows. But by 1935, as Germany rebuilt its submarine fleet, it was clear that these new boats would fight or they would die!

The biggest lesson that Germany had learned in the First World War was to commission their submarines at a later age. Young submarines are like a lot of adolescents, they're aggressive, they're overeager, they're emotional and any one of these by itself could be catastrophic in a battlefield situation. So Germany decided to wait, allowing their submarines to grow into themselves and mature a little bit. Submarines were commissioned into the Kriegsmarine at a minimum of 5 years of age. This meant that they had completely matured both physically and mentally and were thus ready to take on the challenges of naval life. Their fathers were old WW1 bull submarines hidden away near the end of the conflict. Their mothers were specially designed milk cows, bred to produce multiple litters in a year so as to increase Germany's production of U-boats. Very few U-boats were left with their birth parents and in a stroke of genius, instead gifted to naval officers and their families across the country. This idea was conceived of by Doernitz himself. Doernitz, an old WW1 naval officer, recognized the need of submarines to bond with their skippers and had seen in the few instances it did happen in the Great War, how much more effective these submarines became on the field of battle because of this bond. He encouraged families to take in sometimes multiple submarines which would later come in handy in the Wolfpack strategy.

By 1939 Germany had 50 fully mature and operational submarines in its Kriegsmarine and another 200 being raised. It became clear from the start that Doernitz's strategy of gifting submarines to their skippers to raise was the right option as this small force nearly starved Britain into submission. Even Churchill was wary of the little boats, stating after the war that "the U-boats were the only threat that really frightened me." As well they should, as their effectiveness only increased as the younger boats came of age and joined the fight with their older siblings. The wolfpack strategy, implemented as a counter to Britain's convoys, worked as well as it did because Doernitz had insisted that multiple submarines be raised by the same family. This meant that these submarines saw each other as family, viewed each other with familial relations and thus were more able to work together as a team regardless of who was in command. The strategy was so effective that the then neutral United States began to implement Germany's 'raise by family' idea in their own fleet boats. Submarines such as Tautog and Tang were the result which proved its viability in the future post war world.

But Germany's idea of waiting 5 years before putting a submarine into service had its drawbacks. As the war turned in favor of the Allies, Germany found itself with a lot of under age submarines. It lowered the bar for the age of service to just 3 years which helped but only enough to stave off the inevitable. By 1944, Germany's last and latest class of submarines, the Type 21s were approaching their service age. In order to protect them from Allied bombing raids, these submarines were raised by top Nazi officials. Himmler, Speer, Goebbels, Bormann, Goerring, and Hitler himself all raised at least a handful of these new wonder weapons. One, U-2540 is the only surviving Type 21 today. Renamed Wilhelm Bauer after the German architect of the U-boat, she remains a loyal if not a fanatic Nazi. She was raised by Hitler at the Berghoff and her loyalty to her furher is absolute. Although she doesn't so much see him as her leader as she served the German government, whoever that might be at any given time. Her feelings for Hitler and the Nazi regime can be summed up in a single sentence: "He was mein vadar (my father)." Bauer has, with time, become less of a rabid Jew hater but she still remains an unrepentant Nazi. A testament, if ever there was one, to the fierce loyalty a submarine can have.

Today, many of Germany's lessons in submarine rearing have become standard practice in country's around the world. All nuclear powered submarines are put into service between the ages of 3 and 4. Conventionally powered AIP submarines are commissioned at between 18 and 24 months. And each are either raised by or given to in adolescence to the man that will be their first captain. The effectiveness of this tactic today is one that we all hope will never have to be tested but its potential can be seen in the memory of the most efficient, ruthless, and deadly fighting force the world has ever seen. The force that through the formation of bonds and loyalty, nearly brought one country to world domination.


	7. Queen Stephanie

Queen Stephanie was the third of the Queen-class of ocean liners. Born as RMS Teutonic, she and her sisters Oceanic (Queen Mary) and Arctic (Queen Elizabeth) came into the world in March 1912. Less than a month later their mother, Titanic, was lost on her maiden voyage. Teutonic and her siblings were given to Mauretania to be raised with Cunard where they received their new names. Stephanie was the runt of the litter and was often passed over for affection. This became especially true when Mauretania had a shipling of her own. Neglected and always in her sibling's shadow, Stephanie longed for affection. And she wasn't afraid of breaking the rules to get it. Her high class upbringing kept her in check for the most part but she was always a bit rebellious. From breaking curfew to hanging out with freighters and other so-called "low class ships". Breaking the rules just seemed to come naturally to Stephanie.

She was put into service in the spring of 1935 alongside Queen Mary. Her famous elder sister traveled the Blue Riband route to New York and although Stephanie was faster, she never flaunted her speed, preferring voyages to the Caribbean instead. In 1936, she first traveled to Halifax. A voyage that would change her life.

 _"My first trip to Canada didn't exactly go as planned."_ She would later write in her diary. _"I underestimated my height and the size of the tide and ended up getting stuck under a bridge. I was fortunate to have such cool headed tugboats around me. One in particular was very smart, despite his young age. It he was he who found a way to free me."_ Always the rebel, Stephanie often found company with ships outside her own kind. In those days, it was rare to find an ocean liner associating herself with cargo ships. And she took it a step further. _"There was something about this tugboat that intrigued me. He was so young, and yet so sweet. He still had that childlike innocence even though I could see he was losing it. He always appeared to me like a ray of Sunshine..."_ Curiosity overcoming her strict upbringing, Stephanie found herself drawn in and spent more and more time in Halifax.

The tug would later become known as Vital and he was eager to expand his harem any way he could. Stephanie, who might've once associated herself with tugboats just to be rebellious, now found herself smitten with this one and quickly accepted his offer. _"I am overjoyed to know he feels for me the way I do him!"_ She later wrote in the summer of 1939. When WW2 broke out a few months later, Stephanie was ordered to remain in Halifax. Her sisters were to travel to New York and stay there until the following year. Stephanie's new posting allowed her to spend more time with Vital and the two mated several times. By the following year, Stephanie was pregnant.

 _"I was overjoyed to learn this morning the cause of my illness. I am pleased to discover I carry new life within me! It has always been my greatest dream to be a mother."_ She said. Despite her condition and over the objections of her sisters who by now she had grown quite distant from, Stephanie continued her work. Criss-crossing the Atlantic on troop carrying duties. Carrying soldiers from Halifax to Liverpool like her aunt Olympic had done so many times before her. It is unclear what affect this had on her demise. On May 24, 1941 Stephanie had just returned from such a trip when she suddenly went into labor. A handful of hospital ships were on hand for the delivery but it was clear almost from the start that it would end in tragedy. Tugboat and ocean liner genes can be a volatile mixture. Very few shiplings with this lineage survive birth and often, the mother is killed as well as her children are born stillborn. Stephanie had three shiplings, two were dead almost as soon as they hit the water. The third lingered on for a day and a half huddled to her mother's hull. The pain of the birth greatly weakened Stephanie who tried to remain strong for her remaining shipling.

But it was no use. Exhausted, suffering internal bleeding and in extreme agony, Stephanie died with Vital at her side. Her remaining shipling perishing soon after. Her unexpected loss brought a wave of mourning across Canada and Stephanie's home in Britain. Mary and Elizabeth responded with anger, never forgiving Vital for his role in her death.

In life she was seen as the largest, grandest, most beautiful ocean liner in the world. But her beauty hid a pained heart. The neglected shipling who always longed for affection found it in the most unlikelest of places. Her passion for Vital can perhaps best be summed up in this quote, taken from one of the last entries in her diary.

 _I was taught very differently from how I act. I was told never to associate with tugboats and yet here I am mated with one. If my parents could see me now, what would they say?! I no longer care what they might think. What my sisters most certainly think of me. I love Vital. I love him, he loves me and that's all I'll ever need in this life. As for my sisters, I can only hope that my children. Our children will bring the best of both our kinds together."_


	8. HMY Britannia

Britannia is a vessel who was born to lead. As far as ships go, she is sailing royalty. Mirroring their human masters, European vessels adopted a similar monarchy system with a single vessel acting as Queen. Unlike earlier systems of British monarchy however, this ruling vessel was separate from the main British fleet, a system of constitutional monarchy established centuries before humans did the same. And unlike the humans, the European fleets have never overthrew a monarch ship, ever beheaded a monarch ship, nor ever replaced her with a pure Republic. The absolute authority of the monarchy, symbolic as it is, endures. But not for much longer. Britannia is the last in this line of proud vessels.

Britannia was born in 1932 as the youngest shipling of Victoria and Albert III. Victoria had no trouble conceiving shiplings, but she did have trouble bearing them. Of seventeen pregnancies, she had 13 miscarriages or stillborns, and of the shiplings that were born alive, all but Britannia were dead before their first year, the youngest dying just 18 hours after birth. Naturally, Victoria was very protective of her baby and refused anyone, even the Royal Family, access to her. This continued right up until her retirement in 1939 and some historians have suggested even contributed to it. Regardless, Britannia's care was given to King George VI who immediately gifted the shipling to his eldest daughter Princess Elizabeth. By all accounts, Elizabeth doted on Britannia and her influence created a ship who was almost bipolar in nature. In public, Britannia was much like "her mistress" as she lovingly called the queen. She had a mask that hid her true nature, and her real self from her fleet. That mask made her seem very cold, calculating and with a soul matching her steel hull. Or as kind, compassionate, and charming. In private, Britannia was a gentle soul, a brilliant teacher who loved sharing her wisdom especially with shiplings. She also had a wild side that she kept under tighter control as she got older. But in the first years of her Royal Service in the 1950s no one was sure which one encouraged the other during the 1957 Commonwealth Tour but it was clear that Britannia was just as bad of an influence on Phillip as Phillip was on her! To this day Britannia's indulgence in alcohol is quite extensive.

Elizabeth gave her quite the scolding upon her return and Britannia learned to restrict her wild side to more private settings or at least when the queen wasn't around. In 1961, Britannia underwent her first breeding season and became pregnant. Unfortunately she inherited her mother's curse and produced a stillborn. Breedings in 1963 and 1966 resulted in the same conclusion. In 1967, Britannia became pregnant for a fourth time and finally delivered a live shipling. Sickly and weak, the shipling named Regina died before the year was out. A weak heart playing a role. Britannia was still grieving over this loss when RMS Queen Elizabeth approached her with a request to intervene on behalf of her shipling. Cunard wanted to euthanize the baby, sickly and weak like its siblings. Britannia, unwilling and unable to allow another mother to go through what she had, used the full extent of her influence to force Cunard into accepting the child. Grateful for her help, Queen Elizabeth who was soon to be taken out of service, gave the care of her beloved child over to Britannia. Finally giving the yacht a chance to do something she'd always wanted to do. Raise a shipling of her own. Britannia was put in charge of her education, teaching her abilities that would one day save her life and make her one of the most famous passenger vessels in British history. That shipling would grow up to be Queen Elizabeth 2.

Despite her personal attachment to the shipling, Britannia kept her feelings tightly under wraps. With the job of rearing QE2 given to Canberra, her tasks were restricted to education only. It was all about business. Not that she didn't dote on the shipling when she could. She was quite affectionate with her, going so far as to give QE2 frequent groomings. Something that was normally reserved for the mother but at least it kept QE2 sparkling clean for when Canberra would come to take her home at the end of the day. Britannia never lost her love for the shipling she helped raise. When QE2 returned home from the Falklands by Royal Navy escort, Britannia sailed out to meet her and in a rare display of public emotion, threw herself upon the liner and kissed her soundly on both cheeks. She quickly composed herself even as the liner was recovering from her surprise. And after a brief conversation, sent her off to her berth. When QE2 didn't come out for three days it was Britannia, her patience wearing thin and her concerns growing, finally caused her control to break and she rushed to the liner's side, administering to her as best she could until Canberra arrived. The P&O flagship described the scene upon her arrival. "She [Britannia] was distraught upon my arrival, weeping openly as she attempted to administer fluids to Liz via a small pipet inserted into her mouth. The device shook in her grasp and she barely had enough control to utter a comprehensible greeting to me as I came in. Surprised by what I saw, I half expected her to compose herself and turn into the Britannia I knew but that didn't happen. She was just so emotional that putting on any kind of mask was impossible. And for the first time I saw and understood her for what she really was. A broken and lonely yacht who's only family was the ship lying before us just one small step away from her deathbed." For all that Britannia loved QE2 the liner didn't bond with Britannia the way she did with Canberra but she did look up to the yacht as a mentor and a close friend throughout her life. Canberra never shared what she saw that day and it is unclear if QE2 ever found out. What is known is that 10 years after this, Britannia became pregnant for the fifth and final time. She advanced well throughout her trimesters and for once it looked like she might just finally produce an heir. Then it all went horribly wrong.

No one really knows for certain how it happened but at some point near full term, Britannia developed a twisted intestine. It pushed against the womb and caused complications during the birth. The labor itself started off pretty straightforward, Britannia handled her contractions just fine, her spirits bright enough to crack a few jokes with her handlers. After about 12 hours, there was still no sign of the child and it was clear that once again this would be a difficult if not fatal birth. It was around this time that word was sent to QE2 who had just entered British waters after a transatlantic voyage. QE2 quickly changed course and completely overrid Cunard protocol, sailing north to Scotland arriving at Britannia's berthside nearly a full day after the yacht had gone into labor. As she describes "There was a hoard of attendants surrounding her, each with a various but crucial task. Two administered vitals and fluids which Britannia took without much complaint. A third stood by her stern still waiting to catch the shipling as it emerged. They all stepped aside as I came in and once they did I could see her clearly. My beautiful Britannia, my proud mentor just yesterday filled with the glow of expectant motherhood this exhausted ratty looking ship. She looked half dead already and my fears went up at the thought that her unborn offspring could consume the other half in their desperate attempt to escape her ravaged body." QE2's presence alone may have saved her life. Her spirits lifted upon seeing her "daughter" and a small sparkle returned to her glassy eyes. QE2 wasn't just a bystander to this drama. She quickly integrated herself into the team of midwives, working to keep Britannia alive while still attempting to rescue her child. It wasn't easy. A younger ship would've had a hard time under these conditions and Britannia was up there in years. Her strength failing her, at one point things were desperate enough that she reportedly begged QE2 to "make every endeavor to save the future of the monarchy, even if you have to cut her from my dying husk." QE2 stared at her and then did something she had never done before. She _defied_ her mentor. Canberra had passed away just two months prior and QE2 was unwilling to risk letting die the one remaining ship who had raised her. "You're all I have left." She said.

Britannia did eventually succeed in giving birth after three intense days but as expected the child was stillborn and upon closer examination doctors believed it had been dead long before Britannia went into labor. Now began the race to save the mother's life. Britannia's efforts had cost her dearly. The effects of the hard birth had ruptured torn her uterus and ruptured one of her ovaries. Only a highly experimental and risky surgery saved her life. Even so, it took her months to recover. Months that she was birthbound, unable to move. Britannia hadn't been born a perfectly healthy shipling. She secretly suffered from severe rheumatism all her life and pregnancies only made things worse. She was so weak and in so much pain that she couldn't even right herself. A special sling was made as ships cannot remain on their sides for long. Their own weight will suffocate them. The sling slipped under her hull, allowing her to rest in her position while taking the weight for her. QE2 almost never left her side. Even though at the time she was in intense negotiations with Carnival over Cunard's future. (Carnival would go on to buy Cunard later that year) Anything pertaining to her own position of flagship she did from Britannia's dock. Was this evidence that QE2 was aware of Britannia's feelings, and even returned them in kind? Or was she merely an orphan still grieving the loss of a much loved foster parent, clinging to the last reminder of family she had? We don't know and since both ships are not known to discuss their private lives in public it's likely we will never know for sure. But QE2 and Britannia did become even closer after this. Not only were they seen together far more often but also, they were more openly affectionate. Nuzzling, caressing and even grooming sessions were observed by onlookers who were shocked by Britannia's sudden disregard for what she called "my public face". In everything else, she was still the hardline monarch but with QE2 it was as if she had stopped caring what people thought. She had this one thing in her life and she did what she liked with it, cameras or no cameras. And that was that.

It wasn't long after this that the queen, one of the few people in the world who knew of the secret pain Britannia suffered from, showed mercy on her old friend and retired her. For Britannia the release from service was both relieving and saddening. She had struggled in recent years to keep her pain in check, especially on long sea voyages. But it was also saddening. As the queen famously shed a tear at her decommissioning ceremony so too did Britannia, lovingly nuzzling her 'best friend' as the queen attempted to wrap her arms around her prow. Britannia retired to her birthplace in Scotland where she happily gives tourists a hot attraction to visit. She was devastated when the announcement came to retire QE2 to Dubai. The long distance meant it was impossible for her to ever see her dearest student again. But they still talk. QE2 engages in phone calls every day with eat least two rather lengthy ones each week. Letters too are often exchanged as each tries to outdo the other in elegant wording and graceful sentences. But their conversations, however they are done, always end the same. With Britannia expressing her regret that she cannot nor ever can she, be there in person. And QE2 stating "It doesn't matter if you're 5 miles from me or 5000. You will always be present in my heart."

Britannia was born a miracle child, albeit a slightly troubled one. But she grew up in a tumultuous time to be one of the strongest monarchs in ship history. Her wisdom, her charisma, and her ability to always lead from the front no matter how hard the opposition gets is the finest and highest example of her long family bloodline. With her, the buck stops. There will be no more Royal Yachts, no more shipping monarchs. And for that alone Britannia will be remembered, as the line of royal ships saved the best for last.


	9. USS Arkansas SSN-800

Arkansas (2020-2061) was a Block IV Virginia-class submarine who was famous for both her attempts to stop a war as well as start one. When Arkansas was on her second patrol her commissioning skipper died. Submarines are given at weening to a designated officer who will become their first captain. This allows for a bond to be formed between man and sub which creates a heightened desire for obedience and discipline. For Arkansas, the blow was devastating and she was still in mourning when her new skipper was assigned to her. Arkansas had no time to grieve as Russia was undergoing a massive coup and she was the only ship in position to stop it before it ignited a war. Her mission was dangerous but Arkansas prevailed. She broke a few ribs, dislocated her left fin and her right eye was damaged in battle leaving her vision permanently impaired on that side.

Arkansas was seen as a hero on both sides of the Atlantic, fame that bothered the young sub as much as it flattered her. One thing that particularly annoyed her was how her sister Virginia spread the tales, encouraging her to go on Public Relations tours. Arkansas was a classic example of the navy's little known service. She was keen to stay in the background and avoid the public eye. She had a shy, quiet nature and was often intimidated by the surface ships. Being paraded in front of a camera and asked to recount her mission again and again for an adoring audience was exhausting. Then came the fan mail. Arkansas was hounded with it for her whole life. She had a lovely figure that glittered with youth even as she got older. Some considered it a blessing but she saw it as a curse. Never one to show much interest in the opposite sex, Arkansas swore off males forever after an incident in the breeding ring left her traumatized. No one knows exactly what happened but for the rest of her life whenever she saw a male submarine, she would shut down.

For about two decades all was well until, in 2048, trouble began to brew in Asia as China was put under threat by Mongolia and Tibet backed up by the nuclear weapons of India. Fearing that China would attack the weaker Tibet, the US dispatched a task force of ships led by Nimitz to monitor the situation. Arkansas was the submarine attached. Patrolling away from the main fleet as submarines are often allowed to roam away from the task force she came across a Russian submarine who's orders were to do the Chinese dirty work. Under strict orders not to be caught, the Russian moved aggressively and Arkansas fired. Her hits became the first blow in a global conflict. Arkansas was recalled and was on her way back to the task force when an ICBM, launched from a Russian submarine on intel from the Chinese, obliterated Nimitz along with Cole, Arleigh Burke, and HMAS Hobart who was escorting them as they were near Australian waters. Arkansas was just far away enough and just deep enough to avoid destruction as well but the loss of a key carrier as well as the fleet's healer was a harsh blow and it was one Arkansas never forgave herself for.

It was determined during and after the war that Arkansas was not to blame for the incident. She had acted appropriately to the maneuvers of the enemy submarine, accurately determining hostile. That mattered none to Arkansas herself. This was her guilt, the principle skeleton in her closet. The war kept her from dwelling on it too much. In fact throughout the next eight years Arkansas proved herself to be one of the best fighters the US Navy had and became the most decorated submarine in the war. However once the war was over, Arkansas abandoned the regular fleet and turned to healing perhaps as a way to atone for the loss of Arleigh. New Jersey had become practically a recluse since the loss of her star apprentice and did not do much to help the up and coming submarine. Arkansas had a harder time adjusting to the new lifestyle as her instincts always demanded her to attack when confronted with an injury. Nevertheless, she pushed on and became celebrated in her new role. But a new threat was growing, this time from within.

With the loss of Missouri, the US Navy became a twisted version of Game of Thrones post-war. Virginia was rightfully flagship but she did little to defend her position. After existing in the shadow of the famed battleship for so long she was reluctant to strike out on her own. This allowed for dissenters, who both felt threatened by the submarines (the most numerous ship to survive the war) and also blamed them for the conflict. Virginia's harshest critic was the aircraft carrier USS Washington DC. Washington was commissioned during the war and had quickly developed a dislike for submarines. A dislike that evolved into a fierce hatred. Arkansas knew it was a matter of time before Washington challenged Virginia's authority and she had enough popularity, also being a war hero, to get away with it! With the fleet threatened with Civil War, something had to be done! Virginia finally stepped up to the plate at Arkansas urging, putting down the dissenters. Most accepted her authority but Washington would not be persuaded. It came to blows in March 2061. Arkansas, watching from the sidelines, knew there was only one way this could end. And the guilt she carried inside her from her very early days finally won over. She launched herself into the fight, taking a mortal blow meant for her flagship. She made no attempt to defend herself. To onlookers it appeared that Washington had killed a defenseless ship. Her coup had failed. As she lay dying, Arkansas begged Virginia to pardon Washington, telling her that the carrier's hatred of submarines was much like her own guilt. Washington's parents had both been killed by submarines. (Her father was Nimitz) Virginia promised and Arkansas died in her flagship's fins.

A month later a sight greeted the fleet that heralded the beginning of a new age. One that Arkansas, more than any ship, would have loved to see.


End file.
